Shanghai Min

I was looking for somewhere close to the hotel to dine at and thought that I should visit the shopping mall next to our hotel – Superbrand Mall, having read in Lonely Planet that this mall had a lot of eateries.

Having walked past all the eating establishments in this mall I was struggling to find something I wanted that was hard to get back home.

It was nearly 9pm and I knew the mall closes at 10pm, so I had to make my choice quickly. I ended up going to Shanghai Min, which is also known as Xiao Nan Gou. They were offering Hairy Crab and I had just arrvied in Shanghai at the start ofthe hair crab season. It was a no brainer as you cannot get hairy crab back home or outside of China.

I managed to get a seat without having to wait. As I was escorted to my table we walked past their large wine cellar which covers one side of the entrance hall.

As I took my seat I had not realised the views the restaurant had until I looked out. The spectacular views overlooking the Huangpu River and the Bund.

I was flicking through the pages of the menu trying to decide what I wanted as I wanted a number of things but I was limited to the dishes I could order seen I was dining alone.

Sweet Lotus Root Stuff with Glutinous Rice – I have seen this dish in a few restaurants that I have been to, so I thought I should give it a try seen it comes in entree size and I do tend to like lotus root as it has a slight crunch to it. Quite a filling dish with the inclusion of the glutinous rice. mild in flavour but certainly delicious.

Hairy Crab – Is a simple yet delicious dish where a special type of crab, the hairy crab which was named after its furry clows, which is believe to have a cooling effect on the body is steamed and served whole. You may wonder why people go out of their way to have this delicacy, a crab is just a crab. However for these crabs it is the roe that is the delicacy. During the Autum months, Shanghai’s culinary scene is all about the hairy crab. where ever you go, from the markets to supermarkets to reaseturants you will find people selling and serving hairy crab. The creamy nature of the roe and the sweet crab meat makes this worth its price. Hairy crab may not be the nicest presented dish as they are steamed and searved whole on a plate in which you disect and extract the crab meat and roe.

Noodle w Scallion Flvoured Oil – is a simple but typical Shanghai noodle dish. where noodles are tossed with soy sauce and the all important scallion oil, providing a subtle flavor with a marvelous sheen. The fried scallions, served as a garnish to the dish, not only add a crisp texture, but also an intriguing mix of smokiness, bitterness, and sweetness.

Mini Rice Dumpling with Osmanthus in Sweet Soup – I was hoping to see a lot of osmanthus in the soup, but it was far and few in between. the soup itself was nice, not to sweet with lots of mini rice dumplings. the down side was that I was expecting to this this last but it arrived before my crab, so by the time I took a sip of my soup it was luke warm.

The food was delicious but the service was in different. I was still eating my crab at 10pm and the staff member insisted that I pay now before finishing my dinner and then they started to clear and clean the restaurant while I was still there. I felt I was being pushed out.